Photo: The President’s female ministerial nominees (first batch).
Tinubu’s female ministerial nominations below 35% affirmative benchmark —Women group
A group, Gender Strategy and Advancement International (GSAI), has expressed reservations over President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial list, describing it as far below the expected benchmark of women’s representation.
The women affirmative group made this known in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja, and signed by Mrs Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack, its Executive Director.
“The list is a first step, at 25 per cent, we are still far from the benchmark of 35 per cent, yet not too far from reaching the goal.
“The President has shown the political will to advance inclusion with his action and not just lip service, and there is hope as we await other appointments into other positions,” Sydney-Jack said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, had forwarded to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, a list of the second batch of 19 ministerial nominees, in addition to last week’s first batch of 28 nominees.
While there were seven females out of twenty-eight ministerial nominees in the first batch, there were only two females out of nineteen nominees in the second batch.
The nine women nominated for ministerial appointments by the President include: Hannatu Musawa, Betta Edu, Doris Uzoka, Nkiru Onyeojiocha, Stella Okotete, Uju Ohaneye, Iman Suleiman-Ibrahim, Lola Ade-John and Maryam Shetty.
Periscope International reports that with the nomination of a total of nine women out of a total of 47 in the President’s would-be cabinet, the female percentage now stands at 19.1%, which implies that the proportion of women on the ministerial list falls short of the 35 per cent Affirmative Action.
In the first list, seven (25 per cent) were women out of a total of 28, while in the supplementary list, it was two (11 per cent) out of 19.
It would be recalled that the Federal High Court in Abuja had in April 2022 ordered the Federal Government to enforce the National Gender Policy by allocating 35 percent of appointments in the public sector to women.
Nine civil society organisations had filed the suit against the Nigerian government on August 24, 2020, seeking the implementation of the 35 percent Affirmative Action in appointments of women into public office.
Also, Dame Pauline Tallen, the immediate past Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, had in a recent interview, called on the President to fulfill the 35 per cent women affirmative action promise, which he made during his electioneering campaigns and on his Inauguration Day.
